By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON January 17, 2013 Parking in the community east of Appleby Line and north of Mainway is impossible. The houses were not designed for the parking that residents now need. The garages are too small for most cars and driveways are not all that big which for residents in the community amounts to parking tickets.
The real world of the people in this community is experiencing a very hard bump into the city’s three hour parking limit on city streets, which has been in place for 20 years. And it is hurting.
Looks OK on this side of the street.
Relief is possible and Councillor Paul Sharman pushed through a Staff Direction asking the city staff to provide a report council can vote on at their end of the month meeting allowing the people in the community to decide if they want on-street overnight parking.
The story isn’t the same on this side of the street.
The city has what they call the NOSPP Neighbourhood On-Street Parking Program that allows a neighbourhood to petition city hall to allow overnight parking.
What does the City have in place now?
The existing 3-hour Parking By-law will still apply on a city-wide basis, excluding specifically the areas that are approved to participate in the NOSPP. The City will continue its current practice of accommodating specific needs of residents.
The Neighbourhood On-Street Parking Program (NOSPP) will let residents park on the street in front of residents homes for extended periods of time (either weekends only or 7 days/week, 24 hours/day or overnight from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.) The policy was approved on a city-wide basis by Council on January 15, 2001, amended on May 20, 2003.
The NOSPP allows a minimum group of 10 residents (both sides of the street) or an entire street block to apply for extended on-street parking. The required criteria to qualify for NOSPP are outlined below:
Any “parking zone” within the City may apply for extended on-street parking by obtaining a package from Parking Services. A minimum of 75% support must be achieved within the designated parking zone in order to qualify.
There are several categories:
Category 1 – Weekends Only: To allow visitor parking over the weekend, for longer than the standard 3-hour parking limit. Automatically qualify for Weekend Parking if the NOSPP criteria are met, permitted times are between Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday at 12:00 a.m. (midnight).
Category 2 – 7 days/week, 24 hours/day: To accommodate residents who are faced with inadequate off-street parking facilities. Must demonstrate to staff that inadequate off-street parking facilities exist. By definition, the term “inadequate” refers to 1 or less spaces designated for off-street parking.
Category 3 – Overnight: To allow overnight parking, from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Must demonstrate to staff that inadequate off-street parking facilities exist. By definition, the term “inadequate” refers to 1 or less spaces designated for off-street parking.
Existing Residential Parking Regulations govern over this program; for example you may not park in a currently posted “No Parking” or “No Stopping” zone or within 3 metres (10′) of a fire hydrant;
Long term on-street parking will only be permitted on local and collector residential streets;
The NOSPP is in effect from January 1st to December 31st, however, no vehicles shall be parked in the designated NOSPP zone during winter control activities. To ensure efficient snow removal, all vehicles must be accommodated off-street until such time the street has been cleared of snow. Under the provisions of Uniform Traffic By-law 1984-1, as amended, any vehicles found to be parked in the designated zone during these activities will be subject to tagging and/or towing of the vehicle(s) at the owner(s) expense
Residents must pay the cost to manufacture, install and maintain appropriate signage. A one-time fee of $200 will be charged, which may be apportioned amongst participants. This fee must be received prior to the City issuing the work order to have the signs installed. The City will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of any signs after installed;
Traffic flow must be maintained at all times.
The NOSPP is available for one side of the street only (and vehicles must still park facing the proper direction of travel). Parked vehicles are not permitted to block driveways.
Should removal of the NOSPP zone be requested at a later date, the same homes must be re-surveyed, and a minimum of 75% of those homes must be in support of the removal.
On-street parking spaces within the approved areas are not reserved and shall be used on a first-come, first-served basis.
Garages for these homes are too small for the cars. Planning might have dropped the ball when the project was approved. That doesn’t do anything for the people in the community east of Appleby Line and north of Mainway where parking tickets have become a way of life.
The 7 day/week, 24 hour/day option is not designed to provide extended on-street parking for households with more than 2 vehicles, or to promote the use of available garage space as storage. The purpose of this option is to allocate on-street parking to those who genuinely require it, as they lack adequate off-street parking facilities.
Sharman has been dealing with constituent complaints on this problem ever since he was elected to office. He just might have found a way to solve a problem for some of his resident.
Resident can get additional information at city hall – 905-335-7600 Ext 7560
Best to wait until this has cleared the city council meeting on January 28th – then you will need to talk to your neighbours and get them to sign the petition requesting the on street parking option.
Let us hope that Council will learn from its shortsightedness regarding the garages ( that it allowed) that developers propose and then build.
This is not the only housing development with garages that are not big enough to accommodate anything but the smallest of cars. Mr Sharman is the first councillor to recognize the problem and help out the residents of his ward. This is a lesson that other city councillors should emulate.